This invention relates to an irrigation valve for controlling the flow of water in the piping of an irrigation system. More particularly, this invention relates to an irrigation valve which is easier to assemble and operate than prior art valves and which is self cleaning during operation.
Flow control valves are well known in irrigation systems. They control the flow of water through an upstream pipe and thereby turn sprinklers fed by the pipe on and off. Such valves are often remotely controlled by control signals sent from an automated irrigation controller. For example, the controller often sends an electric actuating signal to a solenoid that is part of the valve to open the valve.
Some irrigation valves also include a xe2x80x9cmanual onxe2x80x9d feature that involves manually manipulating the solenoid relative to the valve housing. An actuator arm sticks out beneath the solenoid. The user can grip and rotate this arm to partially unscrew the fitting in which the solenoid is received. This manually opens the valve. The actuator arm can be rotated back to its original position to restore the solenoid to its normal operational position to close the valve.
This type of actuator arm used to effect a xe2x80x9cmanual onxe2x80x9d operation of the valve can be difficult to find and grip. It is horizontal and located beneath the solenoid near the top of the valve. Since the valve is itself often located within a valve box, and since the valve box is sometimes filled with water thus partially or completely submerging the valve, the actuator arm may not be visible to the user. In these circumstances, the user must reach down and find and rotate the actuator arm by feel.
Irrigation valves of this type often include a valve housing that is formed from a valve body that is closed by a bonnet. A plurality of attachment screws extend through mating surfaces in the valve body and the bonnet to join these two components together. The task of assembling the valve is made more difficult by the need to align the screw receiving holes in the bonnet with the screw receiving holes in the valve body. Moreover, it is easy to lose the attachment screws when the bonnet is disassembled from the valve body.
Finally, valves of this type often use a metering pin that extends through a metering hole in the valve member. Water passes from one side of the valve member to the other around the metering pin which is sized to be slightly smaller in diameter than the diameter of the metering hole. However, sand and other small debris can often lodge between the metering hole and the metering pin, thereby interfering with the proper operation of the valve or potentially disabling the valve. It would be desirable for the valve to be able to pass or dislodge such debris during operation of the valve and to thereby be self-cleaning.
It is one aspect of this invention to provide an irrigation valve that is easier to assemble. This is provided by an irrigation valve which includes a valve housing having an inlet, an outlet, a flow passageway between the inlet and outlet, a valve seat in the flow passageway, and a valve member which closes the valve by moving into engagement with the valve seat for blocking flow between the inlet and the outlet and which opens the valve by moving out of engagement with the valve seat for permitting flow between the inlet and the outlet. The valve housing is formed from a valve body and a valve bonnet which are joined together. The valve body and valve bonnet each have a plurality of attachment holes which receive a plurality of attachment members to join the valve body and valve bonnet together. At least one alignment member and at least one alignment recess are provided on the valve body and valve bonnet with the alignment member(s) and alignment recess(es) interfitting together when the valve body and valve bonnet are joined together. The alignment member(s) and alignment recess(es) are so disposed on the valve body and valve bonnet that the attachment holes in the valve bonnet overlie the attachment holes in the valve body when the alignment member(s) and alignment recess(es) are interfitted together.
Another aspect of this invention that relates to ease of assembly, and of disassembly, is an irrigation valve which includes a valve housing having an inlet, an outlet, a flow passageway between the inlet and outlet, a valve seat in the flow passageway, and a valve member which closes the valve by moving into engagement with the valve seat for blocking flow between the inlet and the outlet and which opens the valve by moving out of engagement with the valve seat for permitting flow between the inlet and the outlet. The valve housing is formed from a valve body and a valve bonnet which are joined together. The valve body and valve bonnet each have a plurality of attachment holes which receive a plurality of attachment members to join the valve body and valve bonnet together. Each attachment member has an indicator along its length to signal to the user that the attachment member is clear of the valve body when the indicator is visible to the user.
Another aspect of this invention is to provide an irrigation valve that is easier to operate. This is provided by an irrigation valve which includes a valve housing having an inlet, an outlet, a flow passageway between the inlet and outlet, a valve seat in the flow passageway, and a valve member which closes the valve by moving into engagement with the valve seat for blocking flow between the inlet and the outlet and which opens the valve by moving out of engagement with the valve seat for permitting flow between the inlet and the outlet. A solenoid is carried on the valve housing. The solenoid opens the valve when an electrical actuating signal is received by the solenoid. An actuator arm is operatively coupled to the solenoid for manipulating the solenoid relative to the housing to manually open the valve when the actuator arm is moved by the user. The actuator arm has an offset configuration such that an upper portion of the actuator arm is located vertically above a lower portion of the actuator arm such that the upper portion of the actuator arm is more easily gripped by the user.
Yet another aspect of this invention is to provide an irrigation valve that more easily self cleans during operation. This is provided by an irrigation valve which includes a valve housing having an inlet, an outlet, a flow passageway between the inlet and outlet, a valve seat in the flow passageway, and a valve member which closes the valve by moving into engagement with the valve seat for blocking flow between the inlet and the outlet and which opens the valve by moving out of engagement with the valve seat for permitting flow between the inlet and the outlet. A pressure chamber is provided in the valve housing. One side of the valve member is exposed to inlet fluid pressure tending to move the valve member away from the valve seat and the other side of the valve member is exposed to fluid pressure in the pressure chamber tending to move the valve member towards the valve seat. A metering pin is supported in the valve housing with the metering pin extending through a metering hole in the valve member with a clearance fit and with the valve member sliding up and down on the metering pin as the valve member moves relative to the valve seat during opening and closing of the valve. Inlet fluid pressure passes from the one side of the valve member through the metering hole in the clearance fit between the metering hole and the metering pin to fill the pressure chamber with inlet fluid pressure to close the valve. The metering pin is configured and supported within the valve housing to allow the metering pin to move from side-to-side within the metering hole as the valve member slides up and down on the metering pin during opening and closing of the valve, thereby to help prevent debris from causing the valve member to stick or hang up on the metering pin.